Tyler, The Creator

Tags: Hip-Hop , rap , ofwgkta

Tyler Okonma (born March 6, 1991) is Tyler, The Creator, an American rapper, record producer, director, fashion designer, and the head of his own independent record label, Odd Future Records. He is the leader of Los Angeles, California, USA hip-hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA). Since his first recordings debuted on The Odd Future Tape in 2007, he has rapped on, and produced for, nearly every OFWGKTA release.

Tyler, The Creator is Okonma's most commonly used alias, and the one that both of his first two albums are credited to, but he has used several others as well, including Wolf Haley, Ace (or Ace Creator), and Young Nigga, the latter of which was part of a prank on OFWGKTA's official site. In addition, several other characters or alter egos portrayed by Tyler are featured in his music, such as Tron Cat and a therapist called Dr. TC.

In 2009, Tyler self-released his debut solo album Bastard as a free download off of the official OFWGKTA website. Two music videos were released for tracks off of Bastard, "VCR" and "French!," both of which were directed by Tyler (credited as Wolf Haley). The album is focused around dialogues between Tyler and Dr. TC, and it received generally positive reviews from critics and blogs alike.

After signing to XL Recordings in February 2011, he released "Yonkers," the lead single off his sophomoric album Goblin, which was released on May 10, 2011. The music video for "Yonkers" (directed by Tyler credited as Wolf Haley) won Tyler the 2011 MTV Video Music Award for "Best New Artist," as well as a nomination for Video of the Year (which lost to Katy Perry's "Firework").

Goblin, an album described as "dark," "monolithic," and "a natural sequel to Bastard," continues the sessions with Tyler's fictional therapist, with Tyler venting to Dr. TC about fame, message boards, critics, hype, expectations, media scrutiny, and the idea of being a role model. All of the production was handled by Tyler, save for "Transylvania," which was produced by fellow OFWGKTA member Left Brain.

Tyler's third studio album, known as Wolf, is scheduled to be released sometime in 2012. Tyler has alluded to several possible track names on his Formspring account, but he has also stated that no tracks have been officially confirmed. He has stated however that the album will focus less on rapping and more on production. In an interview with DJ Semtex, he confirmed that he will handle all the production on the album, except one song produced by Left Brain, the same approach that was used for Goblin. Because of what Tyler (as Dr. TC) says in "Bastard," the title and opening track of his album of the same name, it is assumed that Wolf will conclude Tyler's sessions with his therapist. 'Read more on Last.fm'. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.